Indian Air Force Considers TU-160 To Counter Chinese Bomber H-6

25th April 2020

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The Indian Air Force needs a strategic bomber such as the Russian TU-160 to counter a growing fleet of Chinese bombers. The Russian supersonic bomber Tu-160, also known as the White Swan, is the most powerful and largest missile carrier in the world.

The Tupolev TU-160 White Swan is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. It is the largest and heaviest Mach 2+ supersonic military aircraft ever built and second only to the XB-70 Valkyrie in overall length. It is the largest and heaviest combat aircraft, the fastest bomber now in use and the largest and heaviest variable-sweep wing airplane ever flown.

Entering service in 1987, the TU-160 was the last strategic bomber designed for the Soviet Union. As of 2016, at least 16 aircraft are in service in the long-range aviation arm of the Russian Air Force. [4] Since the early 2000s, the Tu-180 is being upgraded to active fleet electronics systems. The Tu-160M ​​modernization program has begun with the first updated aircraft delivered in December 2014.

The Tu-160 is a variable-geometry wing aircraft. The aircraft employs a fly-by-wire control system with a mixed wing profile, and full-span slats are used on the major sides, with double-slated flaps on the rear edges and cruciform tails. The T-160 has a crew of four (Pilot, Co-Pilot, Bombardier, and Defensive System Operator) in K-36LM ejection seats.

The TU-60 is powered by four Kuznetsov NK-32 powered turbofan engines, the most powerful for a fighter aircraft. Unlike the American B-1B Lancer, which reduced the original Mach 2+ requirement for the B-1A to achieve shorter radar cross-sections, the TU-160 retains variable intake ramps and is capable of reaching Mach 2.05 speed at altitude. The TU-160 is equipped with a probe-and-drogue in-flight refueling system for extended-range missions,